More Evidence of the Trial Bar’s Powerful Influence in Congress
November 2, 2009
Howard Dean has admitted that medical liability reform has been kept out of health care reform out of fear of angering the powerful trial bar. Apparently, this wasn’t enough payback for the legal titans, who funneled nearly $100 million to congressional Democrats in the last election cycle. Andrew Breitbart’s biggovernment.com uncovered the following provision, buried on pages 1,431-1,433 of the 1,900-page House bill:
Section 2531, entitled “Medical Liability Alternatives,” establishes an incentive program for states to adopt and implement alternatives to medical liability litigation. [But]…… a state is not eligible for the incentive payments if that state puts a law on the books that limits attorneys’ fees or imposes caps on damages.
So states that have effectively dealt with the medical liability crisis get punished, while states that have bowed to trial lawyer pressure get rewarded. Some reform.
Since Texas established reasonable limits on non-economic damages, rates for medical liability insurance have dropped by an average of 27% and over 14,000 doctors have either returned to the state or started practicing for the first time, according to Governor Rick Perry. Other states have had similar experiences. So will the Obama Administration – which has professed its support for reining in abusive lawsuits – side with patients and doctors or with trial lawyers?
Posted by Dan Pero in the categories: Medical Liability
4 Responses to “More Evidence of the Trial Bar’s Powerful Influence in Congress”
That hardly seems fair…
[...] Earlier this week I reported on the effort underway in Congress to punish states that have solved the medical liability crisis by enacting caps on non-economic damages. Now, Congressman Henry Cuellar – a Blue Dog Democrat from Texas – won a “pre-emption” provision that would allow states with caps already on the books to keep those reforms in place and remain eligible for incentive payments under the House health care reform bill. [...]
[...] CBO’s analysis seems to be having little impact on congressional majorites. As I’ve posted earlier, the House health care bill actually punishes states that have dealt effectively with the medical [...]
[...] previous posts (here and here) I highlighted the trial-bar-friendly provisions that magically made it into House and [...]